Look at the Christmas Light

Hey all, this one is especially long - are you surprised? Anyway, I didn't feel like it had the same impact broken into two parts. Enjoy or something like that :)

Do you ever wonder WHY we celebrate Christmas? The pat answer would be, “Cause its Jesus’ birthday!” I truly hope that I don’t get treated on my birthday like Jesus does on His. Seriously, I’d be downright peeved if everyone else in my life got gifts and spent quality time together on my birthday without me! But I’m not God - thank God! Maybe God has “thicker skin” than we do. (Actually, God is Spirit and we have to be careful when attributing human folly to an infinite God who is “other than us” but that’s another blog post). Most of us, whether we admit it or not, have the attitude, “Thanks Jesus for having a birthday so we can have a few days off from work, give some gifts and get some gifts, eat alot of really good food that is bad for us and generally get worked up into a holiday frenzy! I’ll be sure to throw in some church attendance somewhere over the next few weeks, sing a few Christmas carols along with the radio and toss some loose change into the Salvation Army on my way out of Sams!” Yep, nothing like “Us-mas” - I mean Christmas. I know that none of us would really say that out loud. But our actions are talking for us - loud-ly! I’m certainly not reaching for the plank in your eye without being keenly aware of the log in my own eye..it hurts!

Honestly, I’ve been feeling a little let down by all the tradition this year. I’ve done all of the things that I normally do but to no avail. Just call me Ebenezer. Or maybe call me Tired and Broke! I feel intensely, acutely aware of the fact that Christmas is less than two weeks away and I have nothing festive to say. I have prayed and pulled my hair out over what I want to learn for this Christmas (emphasis again on “I” not “Christ”). Alas, nada....naaaadaaa! Why can’t I rest in Christmas? Oxymoron? When was the last time you saw “rest” and “Christmas” in the same sentence? Let me answer that for you, “Never!” When I get to this point I have to ask myself, “What is it that you are trying to accomplish? What do you want to feel?” I guess I just don’t want to go through the motions without the e-motion to back it up. I have the tree, I’ve sung the carols, I’ve bought the presents, I have baked the cookies, (I’ve gained the weight)... but the sense of peace and joy and “cozy contentment” is illusive.

Possibly, I should make my list and check it twice in order to “keep calm and carry on!” New running tights, some black riding boots, a few candles, hot rollers, a running partner to train for a marathon with me (if you wish to purchase this gift please email), some books etc; Won’t I feel better upon opening these gifts? Won’t I feel better as I run warmly in riding boots, holding a candle while I fix my hair and read? Sure, for December 25th and not to present myself too fickle, probably on into December 26th as well. I’m not as shallow as you thought right? Humanity breeds discontentment in the worst way.

This is where I realize I can’t change me. Try as I may to put all things in order, dot all of the i’s and cross all of the t’s - makes no difference. I can go through the traditions and rituals with an unmotivated heart and I am no better than a Pharisee. I’m doing all that I should, all that the world instructs me I should do to have a “Merry Christmas”. So, what gives? Food and presents are good, vacation and time with family is good, sitting in the freezing cold as Mary with my Joseph is good...

Then it hits me, I am taking the world’s answers, the world’s methods, the world’s traditions (which are no doubt my own by now) and applying them to a much bigger problem...my sin. The world cannot fix my sin. The world cannot fix my heart. “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.” (Jeremiah 17:9) God knew this before the foundation of the world. He knew this and so He provided Christmas and by it He gave us the first and best gift that ever has been or ever will be. He fixes our hearts! “Every GOOD and PERFECT gift comes down from the Father of lights in whom there is NO variation or shadow of turning (James 1:17). This is the gift I need at Christmas, this is the gift you need at Christmas. The gift that is good, in fact perfect, and comes down from heaven and changes not! “This is the gift that keeps on givin’” (credit to Christmas Vacation). Indeed it is! Jesus gives to us past the Christmas season, past the New Year, past this life. We say these things very tongue-in-cheek but is there anything I could want or give this year that would satisfy for all eternity? And yet, the gift exists in Christmas. The day is the gift. Christmas finds its origin in Christ and we, you and I, work so hard to take Him out of it. We do everything we can to ignore the manger, to hide “the light that comes into the world.” It says in John 1:5 that the light came into the world and that the darkness could not conquer it. That literally means it could not overcome it. What that means for us is that whether we acknowledge the Light this Christmas doesn’t change the fact that it exists.

So, I implore you to cast aside the focus on the gifts that will perish anyway and focus on the Christmas Light. Every gift we receive this year will, at some point, rust, wear out, break down or simply stop working. They will be replaced with new gifts next year and the year after that but the gift of the gospel never wears out. It never varies, it never turns and it never needs to be altered or fixed. It is still as good and perfect as the day God gave it over 2000 years ago. Can you imagine? GOD gives us a GIFT. What did He choose to give? Millions of dollars? Great health? Fame? No. He gave Himself. What a gift! What a God!
Christmas is the gospel.
Jesus is God.
Believe God.
Celebrate Jesus.